


Play It Again, Sam

by ummmmm (sumhowe_sailing)



Series: In all the galaxies... [3]
Category: EOS 10 (Podcast), The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, this is where all the canon-divergence really starts happening
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-16
Updated: 2018-10-07
Packaged: 2019-05-07 20:04:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 14,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14678475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sumhowe_sailing/pseuds/ummmmm
Summary: Peter went back to Mars but wasn't ready to confront Juno...until he was. Juno wasn't ready to leave his home behind...until he was. Who knows where life will take them now?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This might be the only chapter with Rita in it--if that's the case, I apologize in advance. I didn't realize how much I love her until I tried writing her for the first time.
> 
> tags etc. to be updated as I add chapters. as always, unbetaed and barely edited because I'm a mess.

It wasn’t his usual line of work. Usually when Peter went looking for things, they were, well,  _ things _ . Not people. He’d never gone in for bounty hunting, and ransoms simply weren’t his style. Oh he could research people well enough, but it was usually in the way of precautionary data-gathering. But here he was. He supposed that with everything else that had changed about him lately, it wasn’t all that surprising that his  _ modus operandi _ may be shifting too.

All the same, he felt just a tad bit out of his depth here, running scanners and sifting through every video feed in the city that he could get his hands on, desperately hoping for even the smallest glimpse of his lady’s scowl or a slouching trench coat in a corner. It had been a week since Juno had disappeared. A week since Peter had last seen him. A month since Peter had returned to Mars. An entire month, and not once had he managed to confront Juno. He’d gotten close, now and then.  _ Very _ close on Juno’s birthday. But he hadn’t done it and now Juno was gone. Gone again.

Another speech from the newly-elected Mayor O’Flaherty came on one of the scanners and Peter nearly threw it against the wall. A week of this man making a martyr of the detective he’d stood on to get to power. A week of hearing his lady dragged into exactly the kind of political ploys he’d worked so hard to fight against. A week without a glimpse of Juno anywhere. Peter switched the scanner off and dropped his head into his hands. He didn’t know how to do this. He would figure it out, sooner or later, but Juno wasn’t locked in a vault, waiting for him. Juno was out there, somewhere, no doubt recklessly endangering his life. Peter didn’t have  _ time _ to figure it out, he needed to act  _ now _ before Juno really did get himself killed.

How did Juno do it? How did he fling himself into so many situations with lives on the line, where almost all the variables were people--not things, patiently waiting to be found or taken--but living, breathing, unpredictable, uncooperative  _ people? _ No wonder he was always so grouchy, if all his days were as frustrating as the week Peter had been having. And Juno tried to do it all with that brilliant, impossible brain of his, too stubborn to learn the technology that would make his life easier. They’d never talked about that particular foible of his, but Peter knew. It was why he had--oh. Now there was an idea.

  
  


“You want me to  _ what? _ ”

“Really, now, I’d think it would be simple for a woman as talented as you clearly are.”

“Well, yeah, all I’d have to do would be to hack into every surveillance system on Mars and run the Mista Steel recognition software I wrote on every feed for the last week, piece of cake--oh, ooh! Do you have any cake? I had some here but I think Franny musta eaten it all and I’m  _ dying _ for--”   
“Miss Rita. Please. Will you help me?”

“How do I know you ain’t one of the people Mista Steel’s been chasing? What if he got too close  and you attacked him and he got away cuz Mista Steel always gets away but now you’re tryna find him so you can finish the job and--”

“Miss Rita, I assure you, it’s nothing like that at all.”

“Are you sure? You look  _ reeeeeal _ familiar. I know I seen you somewhere, and if it wasn’t in one of the boss’s files then--”

“Ma’am, I promise you, I mean Juno no harm.”

She narrowed her eyes at him and he could tell his charm alone wasn’t going to crack this. He would have to try a different approach. Honesty might work. Well, partial honesty at least.

“Miss Rita, may I be frank with you?”   
“Oh, I was wondering what your name was. Kinda strange you didn’t tell me when you--”   
“No, no--my name is...not Frank. I meant, can I be blunt? Honest?”   
“Oh, well why didn’t you say so?”

“Well, the truth is...you have seen me recently. Just a few weeks ago, standing here at this very door.”

The statement did not have the effect he’d hoped for.

“I was only here for a moment, just long enough to deliver--”

“The flowers!  _ You’re _ the mystery delivery man!”

“Indeed I am.”

“Are you…” she devolved into delighted giggling, all hostility gone. He was glad he’d chosen this course--playing the concerned hopeless lover would be all too easy right now.

“Miss Rita, can I trust you with a secret?”   
“Oooo, yes, of  _ course _ you can.”

“I’ve… Juno is so divine, such a goddess, who can blame me for falling in love with him?”

She squealed, eyes gleaming.

“I’ve been trying for so long to try to find the courage to tell him how I feel. I was nearly there--I had it all planned out. Stars and candlelight at midnight, flowers, champagne. Rita, it would have been  _ perfect _ . But he disappeared. Please, I  _ can’t _ let him disappear without letting him know that I love him.”

There were actual, genuine tears in her eyes as he took her hands in his.

“Please. Will you help me?”

“Of course I will! You just leave it to me, mister, I’ll find him, don’t you worry!”

  
  
  


The noise of the comms beeping roused him from his sleep-deprived caffeine stupor. He snatched it and answered without waiting to check the caller ID. In his first stroke of luck in days, it was exactly who he’d hoped it would be.

“I found him!”

“Are you at your apartment?”   
“What? Of course I am, but Mista Steel--”

“I need to hear it in person, please. I’ll be right there.”

 

It took barely a quarter of an hour to grab his things and rush the few blocks to Rita’s apartment. She was waiting at the door, apparently, and had opened it before the echoes of the doorbell had died away.

“What’s happened? Where is he?”   
“Well hello to you too.”

“I’m sorry, Miss Rita--hello. I’m just so worried about my darling detective. Please, what did you find?”   
“Apology accepted. You’ll  _ never _ guess where he is.”

“On Mars, I hope?”

“Well, yeah, can you imagine Mista Steel ever leaving Mars?” Her laughter at the thought was like a slap to the face. But he couldn’t be mad at her for it. “No, he’s still on planet, but guess  _ where _ ?”

“I haven’t the slightest idea. That’s why I came to you in the first place, as you may recall.”

“The  _ Cerberus _ province. Can you believe it?”

“What?”

“I said--”

“No, no, I heard what you said, but… The Cerberus province? Are you sure?”

“Sure I’m sure. At least, that’s where he was last night. At some kinda hospital thingy.”

“How do you know?”

“Oh, easy, my Mista Steel recognition program found his voice in the background of a deal happening there. Real excitin stuff, let me tell you, with secret meeting’s and assassins and oh! It was just like this stream I was watching the other day with these two--”   
“Assassins?”   
“That’s what I said, aint’ it? So anyway the robot had been--”

“Miss Rita, I’m terribly sorry, I hope you can forgive me, but I have to go. Now.”

“Are you going to go rescue Mista Steel?” she beamed up at him.

“I’m certainly going to try to.”

“And then confess your forbidden love?”   
“Something like that.” 

“And are you going to--” she was swelling with delighted anticipation so rapidly he feared she would burst.

“Miss Rita, please, before I go--was there anything else in that recording I should know? Any hints about where they were, or who was involved?”

“Hmmm? Oh, yeah, of course. Something about a lighthouse and someone’s sick mom and Juno called someone Buddy, which I think musta been a code name, and a lady called Vespa and that’s about it.”

“Thank you, Rita. Thank you for everything!” And he was out the door before she could ask him anymore questions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The idea of Rita's "Mista Steel Recognition Software" is kinda hilarious until you realize she wrote it when he left her a message telling her to sell all of his stuff and then just disappeared into a tomb for a while.


	2. Chapter 2

The Cerberus Province. It was all he could think about as he drove his new stolen car wildly into the desert night. Of all the places in Mars,  _ of course _ Juno would find his way to the one most likely to be the end of him. The damned Cerberus Province. And to think, just a few short months ago he’d planned to whisk Juno away to that rattrap as a sort of preliminary honeymoon; he would sell the egg and it would fund their whirlwind adventure across the galaxy. He grit his teeth as he felt the tell-tale sting behind his eyes. No matter how long it had been or how far he’d come, apparently that memory was still too painful to touch.

The lighthouse. He knew the lighthouse. There was only one--not much room for error. A stroke of luck. But did that mean the deal had taken place at the lighthouse, or that they were sheltering at the lighthouse, or had it only been mentioned? Well, it was a place to start in any case. The rest of it had been nonsense, more or less--sick mothers and assassins and code names. There might be some truth to it, but it might just have been Rita adding stream-like drama to enhance the picture. Because her boss’s life hanging in the balance wasn’t dramatic enough.

He was nearly to the lighthouse when the name Vespa floated to the front of his mind. It was familiar. He was sure he could place it if he only had the time. But it wasn’t one of his, and it wasn’t one of Juno’s, so right now it didn’t matter. He arrived in the city just as the sun was coming up. He had to admit, Mars did have a truly wonderful sunrise. As he parked just outside the lighthouse, he felt a wave of exhaustion sweep over him. He hadn’t slept more than a handful of hours all week, he’d been running on caffeine and anxiety for days now, and that drive was draining on the best of days. It wasn’t that he wasn’t ready to face Juno Steel. It was just that he wanted to rest for a moment and watch the sunrise.

He was so absorbed by the majesty of the spectacle that he didn’t notice the man at first, standing at the edge of his vision right in the blinding glare of the sun. Luckily, the man also didn’t seem to have noticed him. He was simply...standing there, outside the lighthouse, hands in pockets, watching the sunrise. It was a rare moment of quiet and peace in a place as reckless and wild as this one. The sun rose. Inch by slow inch, throwing it’s magnificent colors across the sky. When it rose high enough that the stranger was no longer obscured by it’s glare, Peter looked back to where he’d been standing, hoping for a better view--but he was gone.

 

In spite of the tip about the lighthouse, Peter decided to do some reconnaissance in town first. It was only prudent. He didn’t expect to learn much--a town like this would barely blink at assassins, illicit deals were standard fare, and no stranger ever warranted enough notice to be remembered the next day. But he would take whatever small scraps he could find. As it turned out, every scrap all pointed in the same direction. The lighthouse. The bar was open. Buddy was back. Hmm. So much for code names.

He knew the story, of course. That’s why Vespa had sounded so familiar. Buddy and Vespa. Vespa and Buddy. They were practically legends in their time. But Vespa had died and Buddy had rotted at the lighthouse, pining after her, until she’d disappeared a few years ago. He tried desperately not to let himself think that the lighthouse was guiding him to the same destiny. Spending years pining after someone he’d been a fool to love. Every jocular exclamation about Buddy’s bar, every overheard whisper about her story, made it harder for him to head back out there.

Then a message flashed on his comm:  _ Did you find Mister Steel? Did he say yes? _

Laughing, he sent a quick reply and forced himself out of the dim tavern he’d been in. He’d come all this way, been through so much--he couldn’t give up now. 

  
The bar in the lighthouse was crowded. Mostly with curious people buzzing about Buddy, the legend herself, back at last--but she was nowhere to be seen. The room was too densely packed to survey it in a glance, so he made his way to a corner to make himself comfortable for his little stakeout. At least, that  _ had _ been the plan. And then he got close enough to see Juno Steel sitting at the very table Peter had been headed to. He froze. He was about to turn and run when Juno looked up and locked eyes with him.


	3. He walks into mine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will I ever stop quoting Casa Blanca? Mmm probably not. In the meantime, here's my first attempt at writing Juno Steel, my favorite bi-disaster trash lady.

His heart was pounding so hard it might leave bruises as he tried to walk calmly to Juno’s table. But then Juno jumped up and ran to him and he had to admit, he had never expected Juno Steel to throw his arms around him and hold him tight enough that even he believed he was really there again. But it happened. Was still happening. He suddenly found himself with his arms around Juno, Juno’s face pressed against his chest, muttering apologies and--crying? that couldn’t be right. He held Juno even closer, buried his own face in his beautiful lady’s messy hair, dizzy with relief and overwhelmed with too many emotions to name. 

And then someone bumped into the pair of them hard enough to knock them off balance. Juno whirled around, glaring.

“Hey, can’t you see we’re trying to have a moment here?”

Whoever it was, they’d already blended back into the crowd. In spite of their entanglement just a moment ago, now that Juno wasn’t in his arms anymore, Peter hesitated to lay a hand on him. Instead, he simply spoke Juno’s name. Softly. Sadly. The way it had been swaying in his soul for months now. Juno turned back toward him and, yes, there were definitely tears on his face.

“Nur--”

“Careful, Juno. Not here.”

Juno looked at him helplessly for a moment.

“I--look, this--okay. I have a room in the back, and there’s so much I need to say to you, and if you don’t want to hear it I understand, you have every right to hate me, but  _ please _ \--”

Peter took his hand. 

“Lead the way.”

Juno looked like he might start crying all over again; instead, he nodded and pulled Peter to a small room tucked away behind the bar. It had a bedroll on the floor and little else. But it had a door and the door had a lock and Peter closed them in carefully before turning back to Juno, who was standing in the middle of the room, just out of reach, looking so scared and stubborn Peter almost wanted to laugh. Or cry. It was hard to tell the difference sometimes.

“Nureyev. You’re here. You’re really here.”

“I really am.”

It had been so easy, just a few minutes ago, to have Juno in his arms. But now, here, alone--it was like everything that had happened was sitting solidly between them and neither of them knew how to move closer.

“I believe you said you had something to say to me?”

“Nureyev I’m so goddamned sorry it’s killing me. I thought this city needed me,  I thought I could do some good here, but I’ve only ever made things worse. And maybe it wasn’t about Hyperion at all. Maybe I was just a coward. Whatever you thought, whatever you felt that night, I let everyone down sooner or later, Nureyev,  _ everyone _ \--and I--I couldn’t bear to let you down slowly. I thought--I don’t know. I guess I hoped it would hurt less in the long run if you didn’t have a chance to-- I’m so sorry, Nureyev.”

“Juno.” He couldn’t think what else there was to say. He couldn’t say that it was alright, or that he forgave him. He couldn’t lie right now. But he was too tired to be angry and too sad to be honest and damn it why did they have to be like this? Always at arm's length. Always dancing around around each other. Always holding back for fear of hurting or being hurt.

“Juno, come here.” Juno looked up at him, hesitant but hopeful. “ _ Now. _ ”

It was only a step and a half, but it seemed like an ocean between them until suddenly, miraculously, there he was again, Juno Steel, in Peter’s arms. At last. Peter pulled back just far enough to reach up and cup Juno’s face in his hands.

“Listen to me, detective. There’s a lot we both need to say about this. And we will. We will. Later. But right now, the only thing I want is to kiss you again.”

He saw a smile flicker at the edge of Juno’s mouth for just a moment before one of them leaned in and their lips met again for the first time in so long. He didn’t even know he was crying until Juno reached up to wipe his tears gently away.


	4. Chapter 4

That tiny little room behind the bar may as well have been the universe for all the need they felt to leave it. Neither of them knew how many hours had passed as they lay there, wrapped up in each other, talking or not talking as their moods came and went. And for once, no one expected anything of either of them. Peter wasn’t on a schedule, Juno wasn’t on a case, the world wasn’t ending. They finally had the time to lay there together, vaguely uncomfortable on the thin, narrow bedroll, but so glad to be together that it didn’t matter.

“Nureyev?” The soft query pulled him back from his musings into the beautiful new reality.

“Yes, love?”

“Where were you? What were you doing all that time?”

His heart sank as he realized this was going to be sad again. He didn’t want to make Juno feel worse than he already did, but how could he be both honest and kind here?

“Nureyev?”

“Apologies, Juno, I was...thinking.”

“Do that a lot, huh?”

“Hush, darling. Where was I? Far, far away from here. The very edge of the galaxy.”

“What’s out there?”

“Not much. The void, mostly.”

“Doesn’t sound like your usual scene.”

“I wasn’t really feeling like myself, love. A change seemed like a good idea.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I know.” He only allowed the silence to rest for a moment before deciding keeping Juno talking, keeping him distracted, would probably be for the best. “There’s a station out there. An intergalactic travel hub. It’s where I stayed for a couple months.”

“You spent months camping at a glorified bus stop?”

He laughed, openly, honestly. 

“Oh Juno. I’ve missed you so much. No, love, EOS 10 isn’t a ‘glorified bus stop’--it’s much more than that.”

“Don’t tell me--it’s a taxi stand, too?”   
“If you like. And a refuge for expats, a hospital, a government field station, the center of some grand conspiracy…I think you’d--” he cut himself off before he could finish the thought.  _ I think you’d like it there.  _ It was true, but he couldn’t say it. Couldn’t make even the barest implication that he might want Juno to leave Mars, even for a little while.

“Think I’d what?”

“Nothing, dear. Nothing.”

Another brief pause.

“So what did a guy like you do in a place like that?”

“I met someone. No, don’t give me that look, detective, that’s now what I meant. Besides, he was already hopelessly besotted with his own grumpy hero, so you’ve no need to be jealous.”

“I’m not--okay. But you can’t open with ‘I met someone’ and expect me not to get concerned.”

“Concerned, dear? I’m here aren’t I?”

“Yeah. Yeah, you are.” The way his voice caught as Juno said that--like he was just now realizing it--made Peter hold him closer, press another kiss to his temple.

“So, uh,” Juno cleared his throat, “what was he like. This guy you met.”

“Kind. Very kind, as a matter of fact. A trifle simple, perhaps, but it worked for him. And funny. Persistent. Handsome, too, if you like that rugged no-regard-for-personal-hygiene look. Which I for one most certainly do.”

This drew an embarrassed chuckle from the detective.

“Gotta say, Nureyev, that’s not exactly reassuring.”

“Mmm. Would it be more reassuring if I told you he was a wanted terrorist?”

“Yeah. Right. Just hiding in the middle of a--what did you call it--government field station? Real smart of him.”

“Smarter than you give him credit for, my dear. It’s the very last place the Alliance would look for him.”

“But someone’s gotta recognize him, right? Sooner or later that plan’s gotta fall through. No one has enough sheer dumb luck to keep that up forever.”

“True--except that he’s not really living in the public eye there. More like living in...well, in an abandoned cargo bay.”

“Sounds like a real homey place.”

“Admittedly it’s no closet behind a bar, but it had its charm.”

“You know something, Nureyev? I think I should be upset that you just spent months with a terrorist.”

“Should be?”

“Yeah. The old Juno Steel, he definitely would have jumped at that. But now...I don’t know. I feel like I  _ should  _ care, but I kinda...don’t.”

“Allow me to alleviate your existential crisis a little, Juno. He wasn’t actually a terrorist. He was simply framed. That’s where the grand conspiracy I mentioned earlier comes into play.”

At that, Juno became a little more alert--nonetheless, he tried to act casual as he asked “Yeah?”

“Oh yes. Just your sort of thing, really. Corruption on a terrifying scale, the innocent hero being scapegoated, a hideously tangled web of lies and deceit--”

“Your thing too then?”

“--and a chance to save millions of lives from their shadowy machinations. All at the risk of near certain death, of course.”

“Yeah, sounds like a real picnic.”

A silence settled between them again. It may have been merely moments or it may have been an hour. Time didn’t feel particularly relevant here. And then--

“So what’s his name?”

“Hmm?”   
“This alleged terrorist of yours. What’s his name?”

“Akmazian.”

“The hell kind of name is Akmazian?”

“A fake one.”

“He really is your type, huh?”

“He was an Alliance agent before...well, before. It was the name they gave him--or maybe the name he chose, I didn’t ask.”

“And his real name?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” Juno sounded incredulous.

“No. It didn’t make any difference to me.” And here they were, dangerous territory once again.

“What happened?” Juno asked, for once tactfully dropping the potentially difficult subject.

“You’ll have to be a little more specific, love.”

“How was he framed? For what? Why?”

“You know, he did tell me once.”   
“You don’t  _ remember? _ ”

“I was...distracted.”

“So how do you know he was actually innocent if you can’t even remember the damned story?”   
“If you met him, you’d know.”

“Hey thanks, that really clears things up.”

“My pleasure.”

Another brief pause before Juno spoke again. “What’s he doing there, on that station--waiting it out? Just hiding until people forget his name? Is he--”   
“Fighting it, Juno. He’s doing everything he can to get the truth out. But that’s not much, considering his position. His friends are trying to help, too, but there’s only so much they can do. They’re mostly Alliance officers, you see. They’re in difficult positions as well.”

“And you?”

“Me, Juno?”

“Are you his friend? Are you helping him ‘fight it’?”

“I tried to help him in...other ways. Smaller ways. I’ll remind you, Juno, I wasn’t at my best while I was gone. And at some point, I simply had to come back. I had to find you again.”

“You came looking for me? Out here?”

“I--” Peter chuckled as everything from the last few days came back to him. “I had some help.”

“The hell is that supposed to mean?”

“You know, Juno, your secretary is worried sick about you.”

Juno groaned.

“You really ought to give her a call. But you may want to, ah, brace yourself.”

“Believe me, Nureyev, I know.”


	5. Chapter 5

“So, looks like you caught your flight to Mars after all.”

“I do apologize for the change of plan, Buddy, but there was a more pressing matter I simply couldn’t neglect.”

“Hmm. I suppose it all worked out in the end. That’s not to say that you’re off the hook, you know, just that I’ll tolerate you while you’re here.”

“Thank you, Buddy.  I appreciate your understanding.”

“Of course, that doesn’t mean you can just run off with him.”

“His job for you is--”   
“Finished, yes, but--”

“Hey, you two maybe wanna stop talking about me like I’m not here?”

“But our deal is not over yet. He made good on his promise; now it’s my turn.”

“Wait, really?” Juno sounded surprised. “Still? That surgery’s got a steep price tag, and you have nothing left.”

“True, Juno. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to--”

“What surgery?”

“His eye. I promised him that if he helped me, I would take care of his little problem.”

“What about--”

“Drop it Nu--just drop it. Listen, Buddy, I appreciate the thought, but all I want to do right now is to get the hell out of here and--”

“And be tracked everywhere you go? For the rest of your life? No, Juno, I don’t think that is what you want. I don’t know how I’m going to manage it just yet, but I made a commitment to you Juno Steel, and I don’t intend to back out of it just because things got complicated.”

“Let me see if I understand this,” Peter interjected. “You need to get rid of your cybernetic eye?”

“Wow, maybe you shoulda been the detective.”

“But neither you nor your friend here have the means to do so right now?”

“Not a very complicated situation, dear,” Buddy drawled.

“Not at all. The part that I don’t understand is how that all means Juno can’t leave if he wants to.”

“But does he want to? Do you know how Ramsey has been using that eye of Juno’s? Do you think he’ll ever stop trying to take advantage of our dear detective? As long as Juno has that eye, his options are limited. Here, at least, he’s relatively safe.”

“Safe. Huh, funny, I seem to remember being stabbed a couple days ago by your girlfriend.”

“You lived, didn’t you?”

“Barely.”

“Stabbed?” Peter couldn’t mask the concern in his voice.

“Not a big deal, don’t worry.” Juno had never been as good at nonchalance as he seemed to think.

“Juno--”   
“I said don’t worry. C’n hardly even feel it now.”

Reluctantly, Peter let it go. He’d worry over it later. “As I was trying to say, I think I might have a solution.”

“What, you just happen to know a surgeon who owes you a favor?”   
“As a matter of fact, I think I do.”

  
  


“No. Out of the question. How did you even get this number?”

“You are rather careless with your comms, doctor.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“All the times you simply left it in your office--it wouldn’t exactly be difficult to add a contact without you noticing.”

Now that he thought about it, that was probably creepier than he meant it to be and might not help his case. But Akmazian had made him swear he wouldn’t tell Ryan. 

“All that aside, doctor,” Peter interjected, cutting off Ryan’s furious spluttering, “my proposition--”   
“Is ridiculous! You didn’t actually expect me to say yes to that, did you?”   
“I fail to see the absurdity in it.”   
“You want me to leave my job and fly halfway across the galaxy to cut someone’s cybernetic eye out without saying a word to anyone about where I’m going or why. How exactly do you imagine that time-off request is going to look?  _ I need a few days to go take care of some incredibly secret stuff, but don’t worry, sir, it’s all absolutely legal. _ Seriously?”

“Yes. Make up an excuse--I can help you with that if you need--

“I don’t need help from you. I need you to leave me alone.”

“But I need your help, Doctor Dalias. I wouldn’t have called if it weren’t important.”

“Why can’t anyone on Mars do it?”

“He can’t check in to a hospital for this; it needs to be entirely off the record. And neither he nor I can afford anyone else’s assistance right now.”

“But you can ‘afford’ mine?”

“I think we may able to compensate you in another way.”

“I...don’t think I want to know.”

“Oh, stop being so childish. Listen, he’s a detective. An exceptionally talented, exceptionally brilliant detective. He needs the eye removed because the Mayor of Hyperion City is using it to track and, to some extent, manipulate him. You see, he has this habit of making powerful enemies when he encounters corrupt authority. Sounds like the sort of person you want in our corner right now, doesn’t he?”   
“First off, I only have your word for that. Secondly, even if I did believe you, I still wouldn’t be able to just leave EOS 10 on the spur of the moment without an excuse.”

“Well, I can certainly solve the first of those problems. I have a file on him I compiled after first encountering him--and I’m sure there are things to be added now; I’ll send it to you. All--well, almost all--official documents, even if they’re not  _ public _ documents. Verifiable facts about Juno Steel. And as to the excuse, I believe I mentioned--”

“You did. And I believe I mentioned I don’t need your help.”

“Ask Akmazian then. He’s good with that sort of thing, as I recall.”

Ryan fumed silently for a minute or two. But when he spoke again, he sounded much calmer.

“If I did this--and I’m not saying I’m going to--but if I did, would your detective actually be able to help him?”

“If anyone can, it’s Juno.”


	6. Chapter 6

“You told him I’d  _ what? _ ” Juno all but shouted. But Peter had heard Juno truly angry before--this wasn’t that. It was more bluster--habit, maybe--than actual protest. That was encouraging.

“Just hear me out, Juno. I’m not asking you to--to leave Mars. We can bring all the information to you, everything you need, whatever you want, I can get it for you. I’m just asking that you’ll build a case for him. Find the right threads, make the connections. Is that really so much to ask?”

“Just jump right into the case of, how did you put it? ‘near certain death’? Yeah, walk in the park.”

“That’s half the appeal for you and we both know it.”

“Fine, you got me there.”

“You’ll think about it?”

“Doesn’t seem like I have a whole lot of choice in the matter.”

“If you truly don’t want to Juno, just tell me. I would never push you into anything if I knew…” he swallowed hard. In a moment, Juno was at his side, reaching for his hand, looking deeply uncomfortable, but there.

“Nureyev, hey, I’m sorry. I’ll think about it, okay?”

“Thank you, Juno.”

 

“You want me to  _ what _ now?” Akmazian asked, arching an eyebrow.

“Look, I know it’s asking a lot but I’m not sure how else to do this.”

“Now hold on, doctor. Let me make sure I’ve got this straight. You wanna play hookie--”   
“It’s not ‘hookie’ it’s just--”

“Just pretendin to be so sick you can’t go to work for a few days?”

“I can’t take any more leave right now. Especially without a really compelling reason. And since I can’t exactly explain why I need to go to Mars for a day…”

“Which, by the way, you still haven’t explained properly.”

“I told you, someone there needs a surgery. It’s...not ideal, but it looks like I’m the only one who can help them right now.”

“That someone got a name?”

“Juno.”

“Juno?” Immediately Akmazian’s whole demeanour shifted. The casual stance became one of intent interest; the slight smirk became a barely concealed grin.

“Do you know him?”

“I know of him.”

“For a detective, he’s sure got a lot of suspicious friends,” Ryan muttered.

“For an Alliance officer, so do you.”

“Point taken.”

“How are you plannin on convincing Dr. Urvidian you’re that sick?”

“What?”

“You’ve got me interested now. Go on, tell me. What’s the plan.”

“I was going to let Jane take care of the convincing, actually.”

“You told Jane about this?” It was the most surprising thing he’d said all day.

“I asked her if she wanted to help me with a secret mission. She didn’t really push for details.”

That was less surprising. He hadn’t spent much time with the nurse, but he felt secrecy and maybe an element of danger would probably be enough to get her onboard with anything.

They bantered and bargained for a little while longer, but it was clear that Akmazian would be happy to give Ryan a ride to Mars. He had a hundred questions left, but he figured they could wait. For now, Ryan had to get back to work and he had a ship to get seaworthy again.

 

“Peter, we need to talk.”

“Peter, is it? My, this must be serious.”

“Knock it off, Nureyev.”

“Nureyev again? Ah, well. It was nice while it lasted.”

“Hey, will you quit it? I’m trying to be genuine here for once.”

Now that he was looking for it, he saw how scared  Juno appeared. Not to an untrained eye--he was wearing the same gruff, annoyed mask as always--but just below the surface…

“What is it, love?”

“I’ve been thinking--this terrorist of yours--”

“Alleged, my dear.”

“Yeah, alleged, whatever. Listen, if shit’s as crazy as you say it is, I’m not gonna be a whole lot of help out here, even if you  _ can _ get all the information to me. If things start moving too fast, I’m gonna be useless here. Which, really, not much different than usual, but--”

“Juno, love, I’ve already told you. If you don’t want to be a part of this, you don’t have to be. Say the word and I’ll call the whole thing off. You and I--we’ll make it work. We’ll find someone here on Mars who can--”

“Nureyev, shut up for a minute. I wasn’t… I’m not trying to back out of this. I  _ want _ to do this. I want to help. I just don’t think I can do it here. So,” Juno took a breathe, and Peter could feel his heart racing as he saw where this was going. “So I think I need to leave Mars.”

“Juno,” Peter’s voice was as soft and sincere as he could make it. “Juno I wasn’t asking you to--”

“I know you weren’t. But I  _ want _ to. For a little while. I want to give this a chance. A real chance. And if it turns out I can still help someone after all?” He shrugged. He wouldn’t meet Peter’s eyes. Peter’s racing heart started to droop.

“Love, I… I want you to really think about this. If this is what you want to do, I would like nothing better than to be at your side and guide you through the galaxy. But if…” he swallowed hard, then forced himself to go on. “If you change your mind  _ at any point _ , I  _ need _ you to tell me. You can’t...you can’t…”

“I won’t.” There was an admirable determination in Juno’s voice. Peter wanted so desperately to believe him.

“Well. I’ll let the doctor know, shall I?”


	7. Chapter 7

All things considered, the plan was going well. Jane’s enthusiasm for her cover story and Urvidian’s apathy let Ryan slip away for a few days without issue. Akmazian’s expertise got them to Mars with no one the wiser. Ryan wasn’t thrilled with his working conditions, but once he found a place that was suitably sanitary, the surgery went well. Cybernetic eyes weren’t his standard procedure, but he’d done his share in med school. Akmazian and that guy--Camille, was it?--had been M.I.A. since they’d started prepping for the procedure. Neither of them seemed like they would be either emotionally stable or particularly helpful during the procedure, so he’d asked them to go wait somewhere else; he was sure they had a lot to catch up on anyway. Some of which he probably wouldn’t want to hear. But the surgery was done; Juno was going to be unconscious for a few more hours, and Ryan was...not lonely, exactly. He just wanted to sit down and talk with someone for a while.

“Over already, is it?”

The woman who slid into the seat across from him was breathtaking. The vivid red hair draped languidly across half her face gave her an enticing air of mystery. He eyed her, curious.

“Doctor?”

“Yeah. Yeah, it’s done. He’s resting now.”

“Thank you. I owe you a favor.”

“No, you don’t. We’ve already worked something out.”

“With the detective, yes? And his...friend. But not with me. Helping him with his eye was my debt to him. Now it’s my debt to you.”

“Really, you don’t need to worry about it.”

“Need to? Of course I don’t need to. I don’t intend to  _ worry _ about it, doctor. I intend to  _ remember _ it. Think what you like of me--of anyone living in a den like this--but I don’t let a debt go unpaid. Not forever.”

“Honor among thieves?”

“If you like.”

A contemplative quiet settled between them for a few minutes. Then, standing, she spoke again.

“If you need me, ask Juno’s friend; he’ll be able to find me. I owe you a favor. That’s a valuable thing, you know.”

And in a swish of satin, she was gone. He was still staring after her through the empty doorway when the other door in the room creaked open.

“The hell’s a lady gotta do to get a drink around here?”

“A lady shouldn’t be awake right now. Get back in bed.”

“Says who?”

“Says your doctor. Bed. Now.”

“Let’s compromise. You give me a bottle of whiskey, I’ll go back to bed.”

“Or, you could  _ not _ mix alcohol and anesthesia and just go lie down.”

“You’re no fun, anyone ever tell you that?”

“You’d be surprised.”

“Come on, one drink? It’s been a long--well, a long while.”

“No.”

Juno shrugged and started shuffling toward the door. Ryan was already standing to go block the exit when Akmazian and Camille came back.

“Buddy informs us that you’re-- oh. Hello Juno.I wasn’t expecting to see you on your feet so soon.”

“He shouldn’t be on his feet. He  _ should _ be in bed.”

“Then why isn’t--”

“Because he won’t listen to me.”

“Jus’ wanted a drink,” Juno muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets.

“Well,” Camille laughed, “I see some things never change.”

“Can  _ you _ talk some sense into him?”

“I’m not a miracle worker.”

“You’re real goddamned hilarious.”

“No need to be so snappish, detective. Come on, let’s go lie down.”

“You’ll come with me?” The hope gleaming in his eye was the first sign Peter saw of the anesthetic’s effect on him. Juno would never let himself look so happy in front of other people if he could help it. But it was a sight Peter could certainly get used to.

“Yes, love. I’ll be with you.”

Peter saw Akmazian and the doctor exchange a look, but he ignored it. Looping Juno’s arm through his, he led him back to bed. It was too small for them to share it, but there was a chair. Once he got Juno lying down again, he drew the chair as close as he could and took Juno hand. Apparently the few minutes the detective had spent on his feet had been quite draining; it only took a few minutes for him to start drifting off again.

“Love you, Peter,” he mumbled just before falling asleep.

  
  


“Are you  _ sure _ you don’t want the sedative? Just for take-off?”

“I told you,” Juno said through gritted teeth, “I’m fine.”

“Right, because undergoing a major surgery the day before going on your first interstellar journey isn’t going to make the already nauseating acceleration any less pleasant at all.”

“Real reassuring, pal, thanks.”

“Take the pill. It’ll help.”

“For the last time, I don’t want the goddamn pill!”

“Juno--”

“Thought you weren’t supposed to call me that anymore.”

“Yeah, well, until we actually get to EOS 10, I don’t need to start using the ridiculous aliases what’s-his-face cooked up for you.”

“You can remember ‘Akmazian’ but not ‘Camille’?”

“Shut up. Look, fine, you don’t want the sedative, don’t take it.”

“Wasn’t planning to.”

“Your choice. But at least-- Oh. Oh god.”

“What?”

“Sorry, just… dejavu, I guess.”

“Uh. Oh. Okay.”

“Hey, can I ask you something kinda...personal?”

“I have a feeling you’re going to anyway.”

“Are you always this...stubborn? And, uh, cranky.”

“That’s about the nicest way anyone’s ever put it.”

“What did I do to deserve another one?” Ryan muttered under his breath.

“Hey, didn’t catch that. Wanna say it again?”

“I have a feeling you and my boss would really hit it off. If you don’t kill each other, that is.”

“Sounds like a nice guy.”

“Wait til you meet him.”

Just then, the airlock door opened and Peter came back aboard with the last of their supplies. 

“Hope I’m not interrupting anything?”

“Not at all,”  Ryan sighed. “If we’re all ready now, I’m gonna go join Akmazian in the bridge.”

After he was gone, Peter stepped closer to Juno.

“Last chance, detective. Are you sure--”

“I’m sure. I’m ready to leave Mars.”


	8. Chapter 8

Juno spent most of his first trip across the galaxy in bed. So much had happened so quickly, and when he finally had the chance to stop running and chasing and fighting for a little while...he took it. He slept like he hadn’t slept in months. Years, maybe. He didn’t feel like he was missing much; he definitely didn’t need to see the void streaking away all around them, thanks. He was perfectly happy to avoid windows and pretend he was on solid ground. He did get around a little, just to talk to the smuggler and the doctor, trying to learn more about what he’d gotten himself into now. But mostly, he spent the time with Peter. They still had a lot to catch up on. And there was the whole ‘new identity’ thing Peter cared about so much…

“Again, please.”

“Seriously, Nureyev?”

“Excuse me?”

“Uggggh, fine. Seriously,  _ Camille _ ?”

“Yes, seriously. Again.”

“How many times do we have to go over this stupid story?”   
“As many times as it takes to convince me you won’t forget it.  _ Again _ .”

“Fine. My name is Arséne Volte. You’re my husband Camille. Hey, is that the story we’re always gonna go with? You could at least buy a lady dinner--”

“It’s the easiest way to ensure we don’t draw attention, though if you prefer not to be--”

“Kidding, Nu--Camille. I was kidding. It’s fine.”

“Go on then.”

“We’re travelling for our anniversary--”

“Which one?”

“Fifth. We met playing poker--cute touch, by the way. Did I ever tell you how much I  _ hated _ that game?”

“Many times. Go on.”

And so it went. For hours. By the time Peter finally let him go back to bed, Juno felt he could recite the whole stupid thing in his sleep. Which, he realized, was probably the point. 

 

Somehow he’d naively imagined traveling across the galaxy would take longer. Just a few days to cover that much distance didn’t seem possible. But it was. Because here they were, disembarking on a...tiny little planet. Not what he’d imagined from the way Nureyev had described the station.

“So this is it, huh?”

“Of course not, Arséne, don’t be absurd.”

“Yeah, real cute. Wait, you’re serious?”

“Have you ever known me to be anything else?”

“I don’t have to answer that. So if we’re not at EOS 10, where the hell are we?”

“A way-stop, love. The station isn’t far from here.”

“We run out of snacks for the road or something?”

“The plan will work better if you and I come into the station through the standard security check.”

“Let me guess, you’ve got more forged ID’s in that bag?”

“You always were a brilliant detective.”

“And the other two?”

“The doctor never officially left the station. It would hardly do for him to show up at the airlock requesting readmittance. And our friend Robin--”

“Your friend, pal, not mine.”

“--can’t exactly walk in either.”

“So that’s why they stayed on the ship. Alright, so when do we go?”

“In a few days, Arséne.”

“A few  _ days _ ? What are we gonna do here for a few  _ days _ ? This place looks like it could barely hold you for an hour.”

“Gathering information. Eris may not be much to look at, but it’s a relatively popular pit stop for all sorts of people. Security is much laxer here than at any nearby station--which is saying quite a lot, you know. I may not be the expert at this, but I understand learning everything you can is an important part of your process.”

 

Turns out, Eris wasn’t half bad. The liquor was cheap, bribes were cheaper, and no one asked about the bandage wrapped around half his head. Juno didn’t see Peter most of the time they were there; they’d agreed it would be more efficient to keep their eyes and ears open in separate locations. Juno frequented the bars and the local archives, especially the customs records (in spite of the gaps in the official records, he still found some interesting things there). Peter spent his time digging up old contacts and making new ones. The trust and apparent ease with which his thief handled the criminal networking system baffled Juno, but he’d decided not to ask too many questions. He had enough on his plate right now.

“Arséne, dear, did you hear me?”

Juno blinked and looked around. He hadn’t noticed Nureyev walk up behind him. Definitely hadn’t heard him. Not good, Steel, not good.

“Sorry, Camille, must have dozed off for a minute there.”

“Are you alright? I know you’re still recovering, if you need--”   
“Fine. I’m fine. What’d you need?”

“Are you certain that--”

“I said I’m fine.”

“Alright. The bar on the corner of Hebrides and Hera, the one with the absolutely tasteless decor--you know it?”

“The one where the guy with the tail tried to pick me up last night?”

“Yes, that one.”

“I think it looks kinda nice in there.”

“Darling, we’re going to have to talk about that later. For now, though, I need you to be there in exactly three hours.”

“This a date?”

“ _ Arséne _ .” Peter’s familiar exasperation shouldn’t have been so comforting to Juno, but hey. He’d take what he could get right now.

“Okay, sure. Three hours, I’ll be there. Anything else I should know?”

“I’ll be downstairs--”

“They don’t have a downstairs.”

“They do, actually. But it would hardly make much of a secret meeting place if that was public knowledge.”

“I’m a  _ private _ eye, remember, not a public one,” he grumbled. 

“Things work a little differently out here. Most of your methods will work anywhere in the galaxy--people are always people, no matter where you are--but the difference in the fine details is what you have me for.”

“Great. Glad to know there’s even  _ more _ I’m useless for now.”

“Listen to me. We’ll talk about how wrong you are later, love. For now, I need you to focus.”

“Yeah, I’m listening.”

“Good. Here’s what you’re going to do…”


	9. Chapter 9

The plan was a decent one. Not great, but not bad either. It was a hell of a lot less glamorous or risky than any other time he’d worked with Nureyev. But flair wasn’t really the thing for this job. Not yet anyway. So three hours later, Juno was nursing a whiskey at the bar, listening to everything around him and waiting for his moment. A flash on his comms--just the words “get here”--and he slipped away to the bathroom. And from that corridor into a supply closet which turned out to have some rather rickety stairs behind the brooms. And a few twists and turns later, into a cramped, dimly lit room where the only visible exit was the door he’d just come in by.

“This is him?” grunted a hunched, oddly shaped figure seated across from Nureyev at the table.

“Yes. Come join us, won’t you?”

Grudgingly, Juno sat  between them.

“This is Sam--not his real name, of course, but you understand.”

“Sure.”

“He has something that he says might be of interest to us.”

“Hey, uh, Sam--” Juno knew he should be paying more attention, but right now he was too distracted by the extra head glaring at him from under the thing’s hood. And the scales on the clenched hand it had casually laid on the table.

“What?”

“What are you?”

“ _ I _ am none of your goddamned business. But  _ this _ \--” He opened his hand for just a moment, just long enough to see something metallic flash in the dim light. Then he snatched it out of view again. “This is what you’re here for. This can help you.”

“So you say,” Peter drawled.

“If you didn’t believe me, you wouldn’t be here, would you?”

“Don’t sell yourself short, I’m sure you’re great company,” Juno quipped. Not his best, but he was still pretty disoriented. Both heads glared at him.

“Regardless,” Peter interjected, “I’m not convinced. You’re asking quite a lot for an item that might be perfectly useless.”

“It  _ is _ what you need.”

“You’re pretty defensive for someone so confident.”

“The offer will expire.”

“Unless you can convince us of the value of your little trinket, I think we’ll go ahead and let it.”

“If you will not listen, how do you expect me--”

“Here’s a thought, why don’t you try, uh, I don’t,  _ showing _ us?”

“That is not how things are done,” said the head which had not yet spoken.

“Not a bad suggestion though,” Peter chimed in. “Not the whole thing, of course, but a few seconds. To verify it really is what you say.”

The--man?--hesitated. Then, resolutely, agreed. “You give me one hundred first. A downpayment. No one walks away with something for nothing.”

Wordlessly, looking bored, Peter fished a small device from his pocket. He pushed a few buttons and--”Done. Now play it.”

Both heads nodded. He placed the metallic thing--it looked almost like a small recorder or comms--on the table, entered a passcode, and pressed a button.  There was no visual, but the voice that came from the device sounded haggard, worn.

“...requesting quarters at this station with the intent of permanent residence. My position on the Orchid has become--”

Then he silenced the device and stowed it in his coat.

“What, that’s it? That’s just some HR crap. Who even cares about that stupid bureaucratic--”

It didn’t take long for the argument that ensued between Juno and Sam to escalate to the point of fists. Best part of duking it out with a guy with two heads? Twice as many black eyes. Well, someone had to have ‘em. It broke up almost as quickly as it started. Peter pried them apart, said they weren’t interested after all, and dragged Juno out. Juno swore vehemently for a few minutes as they made their way out of the bar. When they turned the street, he calmed down immediately.

“So, that went well.”

“I told you to distract him, Juno, not let him hurt you.”

“Whatever works, right? Did you get it?”

“Yes. It was a very efficient distraction, I’ll grant you that.”

“And the password? Hate to break it to you, but I didn’t see what he typed in and I don’t think I’ll be able to--”

“Don’t worry about that, darling. It’s a problem for another day.”

“Hey, small detail, what was with the hundred creds?”

“The money transfer?”   
“Yeah, I thought you said we didn’t have any money.”

“No, I said we didn’t have the money he was asking for. Which is quite true. As far as he knows, we’re just a nameless young couple who’ve hardly started their lives; we haven’t had time to build much of a nest egg.”

“What?”

“Rule number one, Arséne, remember who you are. Remember what resources you have. Don’t give anyone a reason to think you’re not who you say you are.”

“Isn’t that more like rules one through three?”

“All of which is to say, we need to plant just enough of a trail to be convincing. I set up an account under another name--don’t give me that look, it’s standard procedure--and if Sam goes looking for us, he’ll soon find that the poor Mourey’s who robbed him just died in a shuttle crash.”

“How the hell are you planning to fake a shuttle crash?”

“I don’t need to fake the crash, darling, just the news coverage. And that’s the easiest thing in the galaxy. Speaking of shuttles, ours leaves in a few hours. Is there anything else you need to wrap up on Eris before we go?”

“No, I think I’ve got everything I can from here.”

“In that case, there’s a lovely restaurant a few blocks from here--very discreet, don’t worry. Would a lady allow me to buy her dinner?”

“Make it dinner and a drink, and a lady will do whatever you ask.”


	10. Chapter 10

Their forged ID’s went through flawlessly, which really shouldn’t have surprised Juno anymore, and the bored security officer waved them through. They were assigned temporary quarters by a frazzled looking intern, and led to the living space with a crowd of others by an excessively peppy guide. Once they’d finished with the last of the formalities, Peter took his arm and they slipped away into the crowd.

He had to admit, EOS 10 was nicer than he’d ever imagined. Not great, mind you, but definitely not the glorified bus station he’d had in mind. He wasn’t crazy about the elevated promenades with very little barrier between them and the open four story fall he might take, but it was nice to be somewhere this crowded again. Especially since none of these people were trying to kill him. Not yet, anyway.

They had a quick meal at an upper-level restaurant where even the water tasted expensive. Juno started to protest, but Peter wouldn’t hear it.

“Our anniversary dinner, Arséne darling.”

Grudgingly, Juno conceded defeat and enjoyed the meal.

“Are you ready for the meeting, love?”

“Guess so.”

“Glad to find you so enthusiastic today.”

“Hey, it’s kinda a lot to take in, okay? I just saw a praying mantis the size of my car walk by with a bottle of wine and a bow tie, forgive me if I’m a bit distracted.”

“Yes, I suppose it does take some getting used to. Still, work is work and I need you to be here.”

“Would you look at that, here I am.”

“You know what I mean, love.”

“Fine. So, where we headed?”

 

“A maintenance shaft?”

“I  _ did _ tell you about the abandoned cargo bay, didn’t I?”

“I thought you were joking.”

“Well, now you know otherwise. Through here--quickly.”

Grumbling, Juno complied. It wasn’t a comfortable journey to the cargo bay, but it was better than a garbage shoot. The cargo bay appeared empty when they finally got there. Peering around in the dim, almost dark, room, he could make out stacks of crates and cargo containers and not much else.

“You sure this is the right place?”

“Absolutely. Come on, follow me.”

“So this was home for you, huh? You lived here for  _ months? _ ”

“I stayed here for a while, yes. But you could hardly call it living.”

“Ah, sure you can.” The voice from the shadows just behind them made Juno jump. He whirled around and glared daggers at the man who’d just stepped forward from the cargo crate he’d been leaning against.

“Hey buddy, you tryin’ to give someone a heart attack?”

“Afraid of the dark, detective?”

“No, just of the assholes hiding in it.”

“I have to say, when Ryan told me about you, I didn’t think you’d be so jumpy. Makes me wonder if you really are the man for the job.”

“What does he know? I never met him until a few days ago when he ripped my eye out.”

“Don’t underestimate the good doctor; that’s never gone well for anybody. Camille, good to have you here again.”

“Thank you. Now, shall we proceed to business?”

“You find anything on Eris?”

“This and that. Juno?”

He launched into a list of some gossip points he’d overheard, some things that had stood out on Eris’s customs records--a literal ton of explosives, a chemical compound that could apparently bend light, a couple mind-controlling plants--Akmazian burst out laughing at that last one.

“What?”

“I may not have heard about the fireworks or the camouflage powder, but the plants you don’t have to worry about.”

“Don’t have to worry? About the plants that can  _ control my brain _ ? Hey, thanks but no thanks, I’ve had it up to here with people messing with my head lately.”

“Unless you get on the wrong side of Levi, detective, you should be fine.”

“Who’s Levi?”

“Saucier.”

“The cook? What the hell does a cook need with mind-controlling plants? Let me guess, they make a real great garnish. But don’t worry, he’s definitely not gonna slip a little mind-control into the batch and feed it to everyone on the station.”

Akmazian’s eyes widened as Juno finished his rant; the possibility had never occurred to him before, but it did sound like the kind of scheme Levi would cook up. He’d have to talk to Ryan about that later.

“Oh, and we also got this,” Peter added, breaking the tense silence and holding up the recorder.

“What is it?”

“A file.”

“On what?”

“Not what, I think--whom.”

“Alright, on  _ whom _ then.”

“I haven’t the foggiest.”

“If this is some kind of joke, Camille, it ain’t funny.”

“It isn’t. The file is password protected and we haven’t had time to decrypt it yet. But before we obtained it, we heard a sample of its contents. Whoever it is, they worked on the Orchid.”

“And where are they now?”

“Here, we think. In the sample we heard, they were requesting quarters.”

Akmazian gave a low whistle. “You think they’ve got anything?”

“Only one good way to find out.”

 

Unfortunately, their one good way was taking longer than Peter had anticipated. The file was much more securely encrypted than he’d expected it to be. Juno was no help, just grumbling and making ‘witty’ remarks about their failed attempts. Akmazian had suggestions, but he was no great hand with a computer either. Peter was sure he could get it eventually--it was just a lock, after all, and there was no lock in the galaxy that could keep him out forever--but he really felt sooner would be better.

“At this rate, might be faster to just go door to door and ask everyone if they ever worked on the Orchid.”

“I thought you were supposed to be  _ helping _ ,” Akmazian snapped back.

“You must not have met me before. Hi, Juno Steel, private eye, just the one, and absolutely useless without my other eye or my sec--oh goddamnit. Nu--Camille--”

“It’s alright, Juno. He knows.”

“Knows what?”

“My name.”

“ _ What? _ ”

“I’m not sure how much clearer I can make it.”

“You told him--”

“No. I didn’t.”

“Then how…?” he looked to Akmazian, genuinely taken aback. Akmazian raised an eyebrow.

“I gather this is a point of contention between you two?”

“I--no, well, it’s--he… How do you know who he is if he didn’t tell you?”

“Juno, you were saying something,” Peter interrupted, impatient.

“Yeah. Yeah, sorry. Either of you have a comms handy?”


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one is short and also very late because I got asked to write a dnd campaign?? so that's where all my writing time has gone for the last week.

“Oooo, Mista Steel, that’s so  _ excitin’ _ , it’s just like this stream I was watchin’ the other day where the two lovers and their hostage victim, who  _ I _ don’t feel sorry for ‘cuz he was just so  _ rude _ about--”

“Rita! Shut up for a minute and--”

“ _ Excuse me? _ You did  _ not _ just tell me to shut up, Mista Steel, after everything you put me through, I  _ know _ you didn’t--”

“ _ Rita! _ There’ll be time for all that later, can you just  _ focus _ and hack into this thing?”

“What’s the magic word?”

“Rita,” he growled. This was his least favorite part of any conversation with her.

“Hmmm?”

“...please.”

“Sure thing! Where is it?”

“Right here.”

“Got any network capabilities?”

“How the hell should I know?”

“ _ Mista Steel _ ,” she whined, “how do you expect me to--”

“If I knew  _ how _ I wouldn’t need to pay you to do it!”

“Juno, if I may,” Peter spoke up, holding out a hand.

He glared at Akmazian as he handed the comms to Peter, silently daring the smuggler to say anything. The first few minutes of Rita’s conversation with Peter were pretty incomprehensible--but not in the usual computer jargon way...more in a ‘Rita just found someone who watches her favorite stream’ kind of way. Something about forbidden love and big secrets and a bet? Maybe? He didn’t have time to figure out what the hell they were talking about before suddenly--

“ _ Aaaaand _ there! I switched the password to  _ you know what _ so you should be able to access it whenever you need to.”

“Thank you, Miss Rita.” Juno rolled his eyes as Peter fawned and charmed his secretary. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate everything you’ve done for me.”

She actually giggled at that. Then Peter hung up and Juno decided not to spend too much time worrying about Rita’s strange behavior. Honestly, he’d given up on  _ that _ case years ago.

“Alright, let’s hear what he has to say, shall we?”

 

After all that, listening to the file turned out to be the easy part. They were able to look up the guy’s name in the Interface directory thanks to Ryan’s credentials, but all it would tell them was that he was still on the station. There was a room assignment listed in the file, but when Peter and Juno went to check out (pretending to be drunk and lost--well, mostly pretending), they found the residents of that room were just as new to the station as they were--had just arrived that morning. Peter tried to reassure him,  _ things change all the time it’s just the nature of the universe _ , but Juno didn’t think the timing could be a coincidence.

“Think about it, Nureyev. Something here doesn’t make sense. Someone’s on to us.”

“Because an old man didn’t like his bed? Really, Juno.”

“That family moved in there  _ this morning _ . The way people talk, rooms here don’t stay empty for long.”

“Not more than a day, usually. Or so I’ve heard.”

“Exactly. Which means that the room change happened between the time we got this file and the time we got here. That  _ can’t _ be a coincidence, Nureyev.”

“Alright. Let’s say you’re right and someone is trying to prevent us from finding this man. What then? Where do we go from that detail?”

“Where  _ don’t _ we go from that? If someone  _ is _ shielding him, then they know someone’s looking for him; and if they’re worried enough to take the trouble of hiding him, then there’s got to be something to hide. Something big. This is our guy.”

“Darling, I already believe in the conspiracy, you don’t need to convince me of that part.”

“Just gathering facts, Nureyev. Building a case.”

“So how do we find him? We still don’t have a visual of him, just a name and some health records. This station isn’t the biggest in the galaxy, but there are certainly enough people that, what’s the phrase? ‘needle in a haystack’? doesn’t seem like a bad analogy.”

“Easy.”

“Easy?”

“Sure. We don’t look for  _ him _ . We look for whoever could pull the strings to make that kind of room-switch on such short notice.”


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi guys! thanks for bearing with me while I was away from the internet all summer. I hope this update is worth the wait.

“Again, for the record,” sighed Ryan, rubbing his temples, “I don’t think this is going to help.”

“Oh, you have a better suggestion?” Juno asked.

“How about, ‘leave me alone so I can get back to work’? That would be really great.”

“Sure, just as soon as you show me where that office is.”

“Can’t your--friend do that?”

“He’s with  _ your _ friend following up on another lead.”

“What other lead?”

“Don’t know. They didn’t say much before they took off. So?”

“Uggggh, fine. I’ll show you to the quartermaster’s office, but I am  _ not _ going in there with you.”

“Aw come on, you wouldn’t leave a lady alone in a new place?”

“If you want someone to hold your hand, ask Jane to show you the way.”

“Who’s Jane?”

 

It didn’t take long for Juno to regret accepting this change of plans. Jane was...kind of overwhelming. Excitable, loud, kinda terrifying in a goofy way--she reminded him a little of Mick, if he was being honest. 

“Hey! Hey Mr. Detective, I was talking to you.”

“Sorry, musta dozed off for a minute there.”

“Hasn’t it been at least a week since your little surgery?”

“What’s your point?”

“Still not fully recovered after a week? Hmmm.”

“Is that unusual?”

“What? No. Not unusual, just disappointingly weak.”

“Hey.”

“Did I say that out loud?”

“You did.”

“Oh. Well, if I were you, I’d want to know. Maybe it’s something you can work on.”

“What, recovering from a major trauma?”

“Stop whining, it wasn’t that bad. Ryan said you were back on your feet in minutes. Anyway, like I was saying, the Quartermaster is a real piece of work and I wouldn’t recommend trying to bribe him if I were you. That’s never gone over well.”

“How often have you tried bribing him?”

“Me? Never. Well--no, that doesn’t count-- _ I’ve _ never tried it. But I was there once when Levi did and it wasn’t pretty.”

“What happened.”

“The Quartermaster got all offended and kicked Levi out so I had to  _ Jane _ him, but he didn’t like that either, and well, kidnapping and threats aside, I think he forgave us eventually.”

There was a long pause as Juno tried and failed to understand what she’d just said.

“You know what,” he announced at last, “I’m not gonna ask.”

“That’s good. I like a lady who doesn’t ask too many questions. Aaaand here we are. Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.”

The first few minutes of this grand confrontation were disappointing. The frazzled intern who’d checked Juno in a few days ago met them, listened patiently to their request to meet the Quartermaster, asked them to sit down, and then ignored them for several minutes. The longer they waited, the more impatient Juno got. Not just because he didn’t like waiting, but because Jane was asking increasingly personal questions and he was looking for any excuse to get away from her. He gave one or two word non-answers to all her questions about himself or Camille, carefully dodged inquiries into his past with nonchalance--but when she started asking how he thought she’d look in various revealing ensembles, he couldn’t take it anymore. Standing abruptly, he went back over to the intern’s desk.

“Hey buddy, are we gonna be able to see him today or not?” 

“See who?”

“The Quartermaster.”

“Do you have an appointment?”

“No, but--”

“I’m sorry, he won’t be able to see you today. I can add you in...let’s see...we have an opening either next week, or there’s one for--”

“Hi, sorry,  _ hi _ ,” Jane interrupted, glaring at Juno, “my friend here didn’t understand the question. We  _ do _ have an appointment today.”

Juno raised an eyebrow, but didn’t contradict her.

“But he said--”

“I know. It’s his fourth language, and he doesn’t always get the nuances. You know how it is.”

“I see,” said the intern, their confidence visibly crumbling. “Your names?”

“Are definitely on the schedule,” Jane blurted. Juno rolled his eyes. Eye.There was a reflective window behind the intern angled just right to show the schedule on the screen; it only took a little squinting and blustering to fish up the right surname. Persaud. Another stupid cover name, Juno noted with some chagrin. How did Nureyev always do this so seamlessly?

“Alright, please have a seat for just a few more minutes. The Quartermaster will be ready to see you soon.”

Reluctantly, they sat down again. Or rather, Juno sat reluctantly; Jane threw herself dramatically back into the chair and immediately picked up where she’d left off.

“So, what  _ do _ you think of latex?”

 

It was almost half an hour before the intern led them down the short hallway to the Quartermaster’s private office. They knocked, were called in, and opened the door. The first thing Juno saw inside was the enormous quantity of paperwork piled neatly on every available surface. The next thing he saw was the two headed man behind the desk, jumping to his feet, yelling for security. Acting before he could think through the repercussions, Juno bolted across the room and punched him in the jaw. But while one jaw clacked shut, the other only yelled louder.

“Jane, the door!”

“On it!”

He heard the door slam shut and a pronounced click that he hoped was a lock and not some kind of firearm. The Quartermaster’s scaly hands were scrabbling for Juno’s throat, clawing at any exposed flesh it found.

“Plan?” Jane demanded as someone outside started pounding on the door.

“Do I look,” Juno panted as he tried to knock both heads unconscious, “like I have a plan?”

“Fine!”

It was a non sequitur, but Juno didn’t have time to parse it out. He’d just taken a hit directly to his empty eye socket and he was reeling. The pounding at the door was getting louder, he felt like he was about to pass out from pain, and he didn’t have the first goddamn clue what to do. Then, suddenly, the Quartermaster went limp and fell forward, his weight crushing Juno against the wall.

“What the hell?”

“Your welcome,” Jane smiled, setting the chair she’d just been holding over her head back down on the floor. “Can you get him sitting down?”

“Hey, just--bring that closer.”

They wrestled the man into a mostly-normal sitting position. The pounding at the door was growing frantic and the muffled shouting was getting louder. Juno really hoped that intern got paid enough to care this much.

“Get him back behind the desk,” Jane commanded. For once, Juno did as he was asked without question. Jane went to the door, took a deep breath, and opened it.

“Get me Dr. Dalias,” she shouted before the intern had a chance to do anything more than blink, “this man’s having a heart attack.”

“Dr. Dalias?”

“Yes! Dr. Dalias.”

“But he was--”

“Yelling for help. Obviously. He recognized the signs of heart attack before he collapsed.”

“But you--”

“Stop wasting time! Do you want him to die?”

The intern turned and fled.

In the abrupt silence that followed, Juno looked up at her, impressed in spite of himself.

“That was good.”

“I know.”

“What’s next?”

“Well…”

“You don’t have a plan?”

“Hey, neither do you.”

“Fair point.”

“We could always kill him. Fatal heart attacks are pretty easy to fake.”

Juno stared again.

“What? It’s just an idea.”

“Remind me not to get on your bad side.”

“I knew you were smart.”


	13. Chapter 13

Dr. Dalias was already having a bad day. There were now  _ two _ intergalactic criminals hiding on the station, another stubborn alcoholic on his plate, and still no progress sorting out the Alliance conspiracy. He’d had a lengthy visit from Levi, a quarrel with Dr. Urvidian, his cat had thrown up on his carpet, he’d encountered a lingering pocket of protester’s about the anti-vaxxers during lunch, and that detective had asked him to take off work to go waste time trying to get something from the Quartermaster. Now he had a headache. And just as he was about to take a break, a frazzled intern had rushed into his office telling him he was needed urgently because someone had just had a heart attack in the Quartermaster’s office. 

He wasn’t about to waste time arguing standard procedure--the intern already looked like they were about to cry--but as they rushed back through the halls to the office, he had to ask just what they’d been thinking.

“Why didn’t you have the Interface alert me?”

“She was yelling, and he was slumped over the desk, and I just panicked and did what she said.”

“She? Who is she?”

“The lady with the appointment. I think her name was Jane.”

“Oh god.”

He prepared himself for the worst, only mildly relieved that it probably wouldn’t be a heart-attack. If it had been something so simple, Jane would have taken care of everything herself. When they got to the office, Dr. Dalias commanded the intern to stay at their desk.

“But I should--”

“That’s an order.”

He hurried down the corridor, braced himself, and entered the Quartermaster’s office.

“He had a heart at--oh. It’s just you.”

“Jane, what the hell did you do?”

“Shut the door and then we’ll talk.”

“I can’t shut us in. There’s a secretary out there who’s terrified out of their wits because they think he just had a heart attack, and if we don’t wheel him out of here and get him to the ER, that secretary is going to have questions.”

“Shit. Shit shit shit. Okay, so maybe this wasn’t the  _ best _ plan.”

“You think?”

“Ryan--”

“No, don’t ‘Ryan’ me, you got yourself into this mess.”

“And she’s already dragged you into it, too” Juno pointed out, “so you might as well help us all out of it.”

“I dislike you.”

“Only because I’m right.”

“Fine. We’ll take him to a private ward and keep him sedated overnight. But  _ you two _ need to figure out what happens next. I want no part of it.”

“Deal.”

 

Somehow, he felt he should have known that requesting not to be dragged into any more twisted schemes had been too much to ask. It had been one thing to convince the rest of the staff that nothing was out of order when they’d wheeled an unconscious “patient” into the OR in a rolling chair. Luckily it was a busy day, so when Ryan had said ‘I’ll take care of it,’ the other staff had been more or less happy to let him. He’d probably have some explaining to do later, when things calmed down. But for now, he was in a private room, checking for possible concussion, and listening to Jane and the detective argue about what to do next. He should have just stayed out of it. Should have just let them bicker until they hit on some kind of plan. But he couldn’t stop himself from asking.

“Why did you attack him in the first place?”

“Like  _ you’ve  _ never wanted to knock him out,” Jane shot back.

“But I never  _ did _ that. I just...thought about it.”

“And where did that get you?”

“Nowhere. I wasn’t trying to get anywhere.”

“Oh. Right.”

“So? Are you going to tell me what happened?”

Jane shrugged. “He started yelling, this guy hit him, I knocked him out.”

“Are you going to tell me  _ why _ \--”

“Because he’s part of it,” Juno interrupted. “This guy, your--quartermaster, was it?--whatever’s going on, he knows enough about it that he’s trying to cover someone’s tracks.”

“I always knew he was an evil bastard. Okay, I’ll bite. How do you know?”

“He had information on a crew member from the Orchid. He tried to sell it to--”

“That’s not as incriminating as you seem to think. Every officer on EOS 10 heard about the Orchid. Just because he knows there’s something to know, doesn’t mean he knows what it is.”

“He might, he might not. One good way to find out.”

“Well, I mean,” Jane laughed, “I  _ could _ seduce him and--”

“Not what I meant.”

“ _ Excuse me? _ ”

“I meant we need to talk to him. Find out what he knows, what he doesn’t.”

“That’s it? That’s your grand plan.”

“It’s somewhere to start, which is better than anything you’ve got.”

“I’ve got a  _ great _ \--”

“Enough.” Ryan couldn’t stand to listen to the two of them anymore. Even if it meant getting himself involved in their machinations, he needed to take charge here.

“Neither of you can do anything with him right now. When he wakes up,  _ you _ ,” he glared at the detective, “shouldn’t be here.”

“But I’m the one who--”

“Who he recognized, right? The one he tried to sell information to. The one he will definitely start yelling at if he sees him again. Am I wrong?”

“If you’re so smart, what did you need me for?”

“I didn’t. But I owed your friend a… a favor. Jane, you shouldn’t be here either.”

“What!? But I--”

“You tried to cave his skull in with a chair!”

“Oh come on, I barely touched him.”

“Pretty sure that’s not how he’s gonna see it.”

“So what are you suggesting. That  _ you _ try to talk to him? He  _ hates _ you.”

“I know. Arsene, or whatever your name is, do you think Camille could--”

“No. He’d recognize him too.”

“Great.”

“What about Ak--”

“ _ Robin _ is the most recognizable face in the sector.”

“So? If he’s not going to talk to any of us without raising some kind of alarm here, why not move him somewhere else?”

“She’s got a point. If we don’t have any options here, we could take him down to--”

“No. How’s that going to look in the trial? Evidence we got from assaulting, kidnapping, and torturing an Alliance officer probably won’t hold up as highly reliable. Not to mention, if the Quartermaster just disappears, it’s going to raise even more alarms than if I just let him have you arrested.”

“Fine. So what do you suggest?”

“We find someone else to talk to him.”

“Brilliant plan. Just one little note--we’ve ruled everyone out.”

“Maybe not everyone.”

“Who do you have in mind?”


	14. Chapter 14

“You want me to  _ what? _ ”

“I know it sounds like--”

“Treason.”

“It’s not treason, it’s just--”

“Just the assault and kidnap of an Alliance officer is all.”

“We didn’t kidnap him. We took him in for treatment.”

“No. No, no, no no,  _ no _ . I won’t have any part of your hare-brained disaster scheme.”

“It’s not  _ my _ disaster scheme.”

“Then why are you here?”

“Because Jane dragged me into this.”

“And now you’re trying to drag me in as well, are you? Trying to make me a scapegoat? Well, I won’t have it.”

“I’m trying to make the best of a bad situation.”

“And how exactly do you expect to do that?”

“By getting you to talk to him.”

“Right. Because I’m so well-known for my charm and diplomacy.”

“Because I have no other options.”

“What about you? You’ve got a voice, haven’t you?”

“The Quartermaster hates me.”

“That’s never stopped you from talking to me.”

“Thanks. But I was never trying to worm out information about an intergalactic conspiracy from you either.”

“What about your little friends--can’t they interrogate him?”

“It’s not an interrogation. It’s just talking.”

“Talking with the intention to extract particular information from someone who doesn’t want to talk to you. I believe there’s a word for that.”

“I--shut up--I can’t ask the people who assaulted him to try to talk with him like nothing happened. There’s no way he’ll tell  _ me _ anything. So that leaves either you or Levi, and if you won’t help me…”

“You’re going to ask the saucier to do it?”

“If I have to.”

Dr. Urvidian huffed and turned away. Ryan waited, knowing Urvidian well enough by now to know what would come next. Or at least he hoped he did. Urvidian was stubborn and recalcitrant--but he was smart. And, somewhere deep, deep down, he had a soft heart. And if the instinct to help wasn’t strong enough on its own, the chance to deny Levi the opportunity to interrogate a helpless victim had to count for something.

“Fine,” he mumbled.

“You’ll do it?”

“Against my better judgement, yes.”

“Thank you.”

“Miscreant.”

 

When Ryan told his co-conspirators the plan, the detective protested. He was reluctant to drag anyone else into the mess he’d created. But Ryan had already convinced Urvidian, so all Arsene could do was be grumpy and snarky and stubborn. Someday, Ryan told himself,  _ someday _ he would get to work with someone who was just normal. Just one normal, boring colleague. Was that really so much to ask for?

What he didn’t tell them was how soon Dr. Urvidian was going to stage this little chat. He didn’t want any of them, not even Jane, hanging around the ward, waiting on the results. He would be there, of course, but no one else needed to be. It didn’t help that Dr. Urvidian wouldn’t tell him exactly when he was going to act, but it would be soon. Sometime in the next few hours. The sedative was going to wear off by then, and Ryan didn’t want the Quartermaster conscious and unattended for long. When he had tried to bring this up, Dr. Urvidian had snapped at him and kicked him out of his office, yelling something about not needing a babysitter and being perfectly well-versed in underhanded manipulation, thank you very much.

All the same, Ryan had announced the plan, tried to soothe Arsene’s temper, and rushed back to the ward as quickly as he possibly could. He had a feeling something was going to go terribly wrong, and he wanted to be there for it.

 

The first time he checked on Dr. Urvidian after getting back, he was brushed off. The third time he tried to check in, Urvidian threatened not to be involved at all if Ryan kept it up. The fifth time, he snapped.

“I talked to him hours ago, you ungrateful pestering pesterer.”

“You did?”

“Of course I did.”

“But he’s unconscious.”

“Well he wasn’t then.”

“What did he say?”

“If you don’t let me finish this shift in peace, then I’ll take that information to my cold, inevitable grave.”

“Sorry, sorry. But when will you--”

“For god’s sake!  _ After _ this shift when we can talk without being inter--”

“Dr. Urvidian,” the Interface chimed in, “you’re needed in the ER, room 31.”

 

Dr. Dalias could remember worse shifts, but not many. If he’d been busy, bouncing from one emergency to  the next, then it would have been fine. But his hours dragged by with painful, deliberate nonchalance, occupied by nothing but simple rounds and paperwork. And all the while, he couldn’t stop that incessant buzz at the back of his mind from wondering if the Quartermaster had woken up again, if he’d talked to any nurses, or the Interface, or what he’d told Urvidian, or if Urvidian had actually spoken to him at all. 

Finally,  _ finally _ , after a small eternity, he was free to go find Dr. Urvidian and demand answers. If he could find him. He wasn’t in his office; this was unsurprising, but he had felt the need to check before leaving the ward. He also wasn’t in his quarters. Or his usual cupcake parlor. And he wasn’t answering his comms. Ryan was torn between anxiety and anger. Either something had happened--now he knew too much and he’d been, what?, kidnapped?--or Dr. Urvidian was deliberately avoiding him. The spiteful bastard would do it, too. Annoyed, Ryan went back to his own quarters, intending to call Jane or Levi and ask if either of them had seen the old doctor. Instead, he walked in, and nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw Urvidian sitting there, petting Morpheus.

“It’s about time, you miscreant. Your shift ended almost an hour ago.”

“What the hell are you doing here?”

“Waiting for you, you ingrate.”

“Yeah, but why here? I was looking everywhere for you. I checked your quarters, I checked--”

“My quarters?”

“Yeah.”

“You went into my quarters? How dare you.”

“Hypocrite. And no, I didn’t go into them, I just knocked at the door like a civilized person.”

“Hmph. Well.”

“So?”

“So what?”

“So what did the Quartermaster say?”

“Ah, yes. That. He told me the most interesting story.”

“Which was?”

“He told me--that EOS 10 is harboring a notorious criminal and that someone under my very nose was helping this criminal avoid detection.”

“What? How did he find out about Akmazian?”

“Not Akmazian, Dr. Dalias. And not you. Jane and whatever felon she’s harboring now. Your detective.”

“Notorious criminal?”

“Apparently the Quartermaster has evidence that this man stole, or attempted to steal, confidential files from his possession. And now that he knows this man is on the station, he’s going to ‘pursue justice’.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means you have a dangerous taste in friends. And it means that if your friend doesn’t disappear by the time the Quartermaster is finished filling out the requisite forms, then he is risking his life and liberty by remaining on this station.”

“Okay. So he hides. Ak can help him with that. What else?”

“What else what?”

“What else did you find out.”

“That he is concussed. And that we need to keep a closer eye on that nurse.”

“Did you find out anything  _ useful _ ?”

“I’m sorry, what did you expect to learn? He told me that EOS 10 had been infiltrated and that someone under my direct supervision was aiding and abetting a fugitive. Did you expect me to say ‘yes, I know all that, but what about the man from the Orchid that you’re hiding?’ How would that have gone, do you suppose?”

“Did you ask him about the files that were stolen?”

“Dr. Dalias, believe me when I say that I know a thing or two about dealing with people, and--”

“You don’t  _ deal  _ with people, you--you tolerate them. Barely.”

“About getting things from people, then. Most people can be pestered into compliance. Some people can be commanded. Some people need to be ignored.”

“Which means…?”

“I didn’t ask.”

“Why not?”

“Because if I asked then he’d know I was interested and he wouldn’t tell me anything.”

“Which is different from now, when he’s told you everything, I suppose?”

“No, he hasn’t. But he will. As long as I don’t bring it up directly, he’ll tell me sooner or later.”

“That’s...probably not wrong.”

“I know.”

“So is that it then?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Now get out of my quarters.”

“Typical. Not so much as a thank you after all I--”

“Thank you, Dr. Urvidian. Now  _ please _ get out of my quarters.”


End file.
